Mission Statement

As part of the federal government’s National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Eye Institute’s mission is to “conduct and support research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs with respect to blinding eye diseases, visual disorders, mechanisms of visual function, preservation of sight, and the special health problems and requirements of the blind.”

Social Media and Discussion Forum Commenting Policies

Where commenting is supported on this or any other website or forum owned or administered by the National Eye Institute (NEI), we encourage you to share your thoughts as they relate to the topic being discussed. We review, approve, and post comments according to the policy below. We reserve the right to not post comments or to remove comments that are inconsistent with our policy, at our complete discretion. Please note that it is not the intention of NEI to provide specific medical advice, but rather to provide users with information to better understand their health and their diagnosed disorders. Specific medical advice will not be provided, and you are urged to consult with a qualified physician for diagnosis and for answers to your personal questions.

When you are reading comments, please remember that they reflect the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the NEI, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or the federal government.

Endorsements of commercial products, services, organizations, or other entities

Endorsements of political parties, candidates, or groups

Content that infringes on copyrights

Any information that would violate a person's privacy or endanger his or her welfare

Solicitation of funds

Surveys, polls, or questionnaires

In posting your comments or other work to a website, forum, or social media platform owned or administered by NEI, you irrevocably grant NEI the permission to copy, distribute, make derivatives, display or perform your work publicly and free of charge; and the right to use such content for any NEI purpose.

We do not allow content that infringes on copyright in wall posts or comments. Those who provide comments that include materials they do not own are responsible for obtaining any necessary copyright clearances for those materials.

We cannot authorize the use of copyrighted materials contained in linked websites. Users must request such authorization from the sponsor of the linked website.

Discussion Forums

NEI currently hosts the Audacious Goals Initiative and 3-D Retina Organoid Challenge discussion forums. These venues are intended to allow the research community to engage in discussions of topics related to the scientific goals of the respective programs.

The 3-D ROC forum also functions as a teambuilding space: members from diverse scientific fields are encouraged to list their areas of expertise and communicate with each other to initiate collaborations. NEI encourages solvers to work together outside the forum venue toward the scientific goals of the challenge, but is not responsible for maintaining, evaluating, or overseeing collaborations that result from interactions in the forum. Once teams are formed, all sharing of information and data should be done at the challenge participants’ discretion.